NI Komplete 8 with Kontakt 5 available 1 SEP 2011

[mhschmieder]

http://www.brentradio.com/NI/Komplete1.jpg

http://www.brentradio.com/NI/Komplete2.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/zwltdu.jpg

Apparently NI will be making the official announcement next week; these are pre-release adverts.

It will be interesting to see what sort of features and libraries/sounds the new Studio Drummer product contains.

Actually, it looks to be a replacement for Battery, which appears to be conspicuously absent from the product listing.

Also, it is now clear that Maschine takes over the duties of Kore.

[Frodo]

Yowzee Skooble!!

Thanks for the heads up, M. This is big news.

[williemyers]

here's a response from one of their company guys ("Keir @ Native Instruments") over on their board, when querried about Kontakt 5 (and whether or not Battery would be included on "Komplete 8")

Keir @ NI
Community Man

Battery is doing fine and isn't discontinued. I can't say any more right now, but keep an eye on the NI site next week.
__________________
Native Instruments, Berlin

[philbrown]

Am the only one that wishes they'd simply bring back all the cool stuff they've dropped out of Komplete over the years like Pro-53, B4, Vokator, Spektral Delay etc?

[Babz]

All I can say is ... W W!

Am the only one that wishes they'd simply bring back all the cool stuff they've dropped out of Komplete over the years like Pro-53, B4, Vokator, Spektral Delay etc?

I'm with you philbrown. Add FM7 to that list, which I liked better than FM8, as a replacement for my legacy Yamaha FM synth hardware. FM8 offers far less when it comes to emulating and reading the old Yamaha sysex.

I have an aging Windoze XP machine that I keep around just to be able to access all the orphaned VIs I've paid big bucks for over the years. At least I'll be able to access them like an external sound module, for as long as I can keep the old beast running, at least.

There's always gotchas and a two-steps-back aspect to these major software upgrades, and not just NI (although they have one of the more prodigious orphaning records). And sometimes you get burned because you pay extra for expansions or add-ons that are later included in the next Komplete package (e.g., Scarbee). And I'm sure there's a lot Kore users who got burned (thankfully, I resisted Kore temptation and never went down that path).

On the other hand, there's always some pretty COOL new stuff too! And typically the overall package has been an exponentially better value.

I'll be curious about upgrades from earlier Komplete, esp. with that USB-drive ULTIMATE option....

Babz

[FutureLegends]

I just don't like the NI stuff and never upgraded my Komplete 5... But if that new drum thing turns out to be good I might upgrade this time around...

[Killahurts]

I just don't like the NI stuff and never upgraded my Komplete 5... But if that new drum thing turns out to be good I might upgrade this time around...

Yeah, I didn't upgrade from K6, to K7. I couldn't find what the upgrade price would be on their site for K8, does anyone know?

If it's too huge, I may just upgrade Kontakt from now on.

[dix]

Kontakt 5 doesn't seem to improve all that much upon 4. In fact the Komplete 8 package in general doesn't look all that exciting to me. Am I missing something? What new features and/or instruments are you all looking forward to in these upgrades?

[timriley]

According to this link from am email I got from 'audiomidi' the upgrade price will be $199 (probably around £150 for me)

http://www.audiomidi.com/Komplete-8-Upd ... 536C0.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Im tempted with the vintage compressors and session strings pro included.

Although probably I'd get greater fulfilment from practicing my guitar more than I do at present (which is free of course)...

[FutureLegends]

Im tempted with the vintage compressors and session strings pro included.

I got excited there for a while. I'm curious about Session Strings Pro but seems it's only included in the 'Ultimate' version. Which is €499 if you upgrade from an earlier version of Komplete... That is too much for NI stuff

[SixStringGeek]

Kontakt 5 upgrade and maybe the drum thingy are the only things I'd be likely to dig into - and maybe this version of Guitar Rig won't be lame like the previous ones. Their tube emulation technology has been pretty weak so far. Retro-machine looks maybe fun but I have enough analog 'almost moog's lying around.

Otherwise I don't find it compelling at $199 for the upgrade.

[timriley]

'Ultimate'

What a horrible word.

[mhschmieder]

The Ultimate Upgrade is $499 at Audio MIDI along with a $50 voucher.

I find it VERY compelling, as I only bought Vintage Organs and Session Strings non-pro last year and didn't spend on the other stuff I wanted from NI or the K7 upgrade. Therefore, there is more than enough in K8 Ultimate to be worth more than the upgrade price.

I find the regular K8 upgrade price of $199 not very tempting as it doesn't have much beyond the Kontakt update.

BTW all the synths now include all the add-on libraries, which I already bought anyway. They did this due to the cancellation of Kore and Kore Player. These are WONDERFUL libraries and I use them all the time -- especially FM8 Transients and Absynth Twilight. Great for soundtrack work and sound textures, ambient material, etc.

[Prime Mover]

While this update isn't particularly exciting, it does actually make sense for me. I've just been looking to get a good drum synth, and if Studio Drummer can compare, in the slightest, to BFD, Slate, or Toontracker, the Komplete 8 upgrade will be worth it for me. Kontakt 5 will likely add a number of good things, and I have even more hope for Guitar Rig 4, which has been finally improving since the new additions have come one (I use Ramfire for just about everything now).

[mhschmieder]

Guitar Rig 5 has some new effects, but I didn't compare to Guitar Rig 4 yet.

Studio Drums uses the GUI workflow of the recent West Africa Loops add-on, and is Kontakt-based. It doesn't seem to be a replacement for Battery after all, but Battery looks "old" now so is probably slated for an overhaul. My guess is it will be updated near end of year and they didn't want to hold up Komplete.